Columnist Dean Juipe: Coach feels recruits saw potential

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999 | 10:26 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@vegas.com or 259-4084.

It was obvious who they were.

Dressed nicely, smiling, talking casually, looking relaxed and sharp, six prospective UNLV football players stood together before Saturday's final home game with Colorado State and directed their attention toward the Sam Boyd Stadium playing field.

Grouped beneath the press box area in an informal setting, the recruits wistfully exchanged small talk amongst themselves and with their escort. On the field before them, the Rebels were warming up for what would prove to be their fifth straight loss, their 12th consecutive home loss over two years, and a setback that would lower their final 1999 record to 3-8.

But in the warm noon-ish sun, with the prospects for their immediate futures foremost on their minds, these were young men to be envied. They were wanted -- wanted by a UNLV program that made some significant strides this year without completely escaping its unenviable past.

A thought occurred: Deep down, what were these guests thinking? Beyond the players loosening and stretching and tossing footballs below, what did they see from this panoramic view?

What were their impressions?

"Oh, I think the first thing they'd see is that we now have a first-class stadium," UNLV head coach John Robinson said Tuesday after being relayed the imagery and asked for his conjecture. "It's not second-rate anymore.

"You know how there are positive vibes and negative vibes when you're looking at something new or something you might buy, like a car or a house? If it's negative, you say to yourself, 'I don't like it' and you go on to something else.

"But I think they'd see our stadium and feel positive about it. I think they'd see that the negative vibes are gone."

As the game played itself out and the Rebels remained competitive even in a 35-17 defeat, Robinson would like to believe the recruits were impressed enough to picture themselves in a UNLV uniform next season.

He feels they may have heard opportunity knock.

"I think they could have watched that game and said to themselves, 'Hey, there's some talent here but there's also room for me to play,' " Robinson said. "Our selling point with recruits these days is that we're going to be good and that it's a great life in Las Vegas and that we want you to come and be a part of it right now.

"We've made big strides in the talent department, but we still need depth, and a recruit is always going to size up the situation as it pertains to him and make a decision about how quickly he thinks he'll get to play.

"In our case, these recruits could have watched us and said 'I'll buy into that' and 'I'll come here because I know I've got a chance to play.' "

As the day passed and the sun moved in and out of clouds, the recruits withdrew to the more secluded setting of a private box. There was little star gazing toward the field as the Rebels lost as expected and completed a marginally successful year, assuming it can be measured in small increments.

If Robinson, his team and its fans could take anything from the just-completed season it's a feeling of hope. Whether these particular recruits and their counterparts pick up on that optimism may determine the program's ultimate fate.